# NTSB ERA13CA404: Cessna 172N, N737PD, Knoxville, TN, August 3, 2013

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report
- Date: August 3, 2013, 11:45 local (15:45 UTC)
- Place: Knoxville, TN
- Coordinates: 35.96389, -83.873611 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=35.9639&lon=-83.8736&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092)
- Highest injury: No injuries
- Injuries: 1 uninjured
- Status: Completed, report November 19, 2013
- Report: Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties: FAA/FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 88005
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA13CA404
- NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/88005/pdf
- NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=88005
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA13CA404

## Probable cause

The student pilot's improper flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing.

## Findings

NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause.

- [Performance/control parameters: landing flare](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Incorrect use/operation (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 38 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 1,285 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062041/cases.md)
- [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Student/instructed pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 150 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md)
- [Action: incorrect action performance](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015): Personnel issues › Action/decision · Student/instructed pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 29 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015/cases.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 1,386 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02041015/cases.md)

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 46 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 2,102 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/092/sequence.md)
- [Landing-landing roll: Landing gear collapse](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094); cases with it: [Cessna 172N, 10 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md?model=2072434), [All aircraft, 1,787 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/094/sequence.md)

## Analysis

The solo student pilot reported that she was practicing takeoffs and landings. During landing, the airplane touched down hard and bounced back into the air. It then stalled and porpoised several times, before the nosegear collapsed and the airplane came to rest upright on the runway. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane and examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any. The inspector observed damage to the propeller, nosegear assembly, and firewall. The recorded weather near the accident site, about the time of the accident, was a headwind at 8 knots.

## Factual narrative

The solo student pilot reported that she was practicing takeoffs and landings. During landing, the airplane touched down hard and bounced back into the air. It then stalled and porpoised several times, before the nosegear collapsed and the airplane came to rest upright on the runway. The student pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane and examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector did not reveal any. The inspector observed damage to the propeller, nosegear assembly, and firewall. The recorded weather near the accident site, about the time of the accident, was a headwind at 8 knots.

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N737PD](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N737PD-2018-03-29), registration cancelled 2018-03-29, S/N 17269561, built 1977 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 172N
- Registry model: [Cessna 172N](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-172n) (registry code 2072434) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-320 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-320-series) (registry code 41508, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 17269561
- Year built: 1977
- Airframe hours: 9993
- Engines: LYCOMING O-320 160 horsepower reciprocating
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Instructional, Part 91
- Operator: Knox Flight Training
- Registered owner: Unlimited Aviation Inc
- Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal
- Last inspection: Annual, July 19, 2013, 54 hours before
- Departed: DKX, Knoxville, TN
- Destination: DKX, Knoxville, TN
- Airport: DKX, Knoxville Downtown Island, runway 26, 3,499 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment: Stall warning system

## Flight crew

As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.

- Pilot; age 55; injuries: none; student; medical: class 3, with waivers/limitations; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 36 total, 36 in this make and model, 1 as pilot in command, 6 in the last 90 days, 1 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day
- Wind: 250° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: 25,000 ft overcast
- Temperature: 81 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter: 30.05 inHg
- Observed at: TYS, 12 nm away

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20130803019129A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20130803019129A), Aug 3, 2013: Cessna 172N, Knoxville, TN, Substantial damage. Student pilot porpoised and hit the nose gear on landing. The landing gear was folded back to the fuselage and the propeller was serverely damaged. Review of…

## Docket (3 files)

The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 7, 2013, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=88005. 1.1 MB in all.

- Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 745 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40403454&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF
- Weather Report (item 2, .PDF, 171 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40403455&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Weather%20Report-Master.PDF
- Photograph # 1: Airplane Damage (Photo Courtesy of FAA) (item 3, .PDF, 193 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40403456&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Photograph%20%23%201%3A%20%20Airplane%20Damage%20(Photo%20Courtesy%20of%20FAA)-Master.PDF

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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